Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Latest Travel Ban

A federal judge in Hawaii once again blocked the Trump administration from implementing a controversial travel ban.

The temporary restraining order, issued Tuesday by Judge Derrick K. Watson of the Federal District Court in Hawaii, is likely to be appealed but it nonetheless will keep the ban from going into effect as scheduled.

The latest ban was set to go into effect Wednesday and would have barred a variety of travelers from eight countries, namely Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. The ruling affects travelers from six of the eight countries, leaving it in force for travelers from North Korea and Venezuela.

The ruling came about after the State of Hawaii, as well as others who had sued over prior travel bans issued by President Trump, asked the court to block the new ban arguing that the latest ban, similar to the prior two, was issued largely to implement a ban on Muslims.

The ban, Judge Watson said in his ruling, “suffers from precisely the same maladies as its predecessor: it lacks sufficient findings that the entry of more than 150 million nationals from six specified countries would be ‘detrimental to the interests of the United States.’”

The remote city of San Miguel de Allende, 170 miles (274 kilometers) northwest of Mexico City, was founded in 1542 by San Miguel El Grande, a San Franciscan monk. The city was a focal point of the Mexican war for independence from Spain. It was renamed after Ignacio Allende, a hero of the independence movement. Today, the region is home to more than 72,000 residents including a large U.S. and …

Six U.S. airlines said they are working to introduce additional gender options for travelers who do not identify exclusively as male or female.
The change will add options for “unspecified” and “undisclosed” and will keep airlines in compliance with U.S. and foreign government requirements that allow passenger data to match the identification carried by travelers to airport security checkpoints and immigration controls.
The move follows the adoption of new standards for travelers …